I'd been thinking about alternates to laundry soap, and had started experimenting with making my own from usual products and things I can grow.
Not long ago, I decided to look into my car's trunk. It had been a while - still packed from the last time I'd moved. Big mistake. I should have emptied it a long while ago. I have a very old car, 1984, and at some point over the last year or so, the sealing around the trunk had loosened, or perhaps disintegrated. The year or so of rains and heavy snow had leaked into the trunk and ruined much of what was there. Some things had to be tossed, and some tools still have to be cleaned. I had a large bag of my clothing in it, now moldy, so decided to figure out if they were salvagable.
I did that today.
The moldy clothes went into the washer. All except for 1 that is hand clean only; that's for tomorrow. I filled the washer with cool water, and added vinegar (antiseptic, antibacterial). About a cup of vinegar. I did two cycles of it, then an extra rinse with just water.
The clothes are now hanging on our two bathroom's curtain rods, drying on hangers. They don't smell like vinegar (or soap!), but look and feel clean.
I'm learning how to make vinegar, plus I'm storing lots until I've gotten the hang of the process. Vinegar has lots of uses, both with cooking and cleaning. This is a definite skill I gotta have.